‘Okay.’ Barrett listened to the information with a frown on his face.

‘What is it, sir?’ Palmer asked.

‘He could not have been responsible for victim number two. Either we have a copycat, which seems extremely unlikely given that the information regarding the removal of Dennis Wade’s finger has been kept out of the press; or Andrew Wade isn’t our man.’

‘Agreed. But he is hiding something, and it might be significant to the investigation.’

‘Quite,’ Barrett said sharply.

‘There are two things I want to mention. We now know that our killer strikes at night. The lights have been off in both instances so the killer left the bodies hanging in the dark. Secondly, it’s quite clear that the victims have been studied by the murderer. The killings took place when the killer was sure they wouldn’t be interrupted. This takes time and patience. He or she must have stalked Wendy and Dennis.’

‘Or worked his way into their lives,’ Barrett added thoughtfully.

‘Exactly.’

‘How did the interview go this morning?’ Barrett changed the subject wanting to give it more thought before discussing it further.

‘He wasn’t any help. Nice bloke, though.’

‘Right. I want you to gather together all the information we have on Wendy Matlock. Perhaps the key to understanding our killer’s motive lies somewhere there.’

‘I’ve been giving some thought to your idea about involving the press. I think at the very least we should make a statement warning the public to be vigilant. The Chief Constable will approve of that much, I’m sure. And we could slip a few select bits of information into the statement that could help with the search for the killer, and perhaps throw up material that might aid the investigation.’

‘I’d been thinking something similar myself, Joe.’

‘I’ll contact the press and arrange a conference.’

Chapter 12

3.20pm Monday 16th December

Veronica hung up the phone and went and sat quietly in a chair. Her face was ashen, and her sister could instantly tell something was wrong.

Francesca crossed the room and went and stood next to her sister, bending over to take hold of her hand. ‘Whatever is wrong?’ She could tell this was something else, something other than grief.

‘That was the police.’ Veronica stayed seated, looking past her sister staring into the distance and not blinking.

‘What did they say?’ Francesca did not like the expression on her sister’s face. It made her feel uneasy.

‘They found another.’

‘Another what?’

‘Another body.’

Those two words had the magical ability to silence Francesca.

‘A woman.’ Veronica’s voice was hoarse.

‘A woman?’ Francesca finally spoke, her words filled with horror

‘A woman,’ Veronica repeated.

‘When? Where?’

‘This morning in a village outside the city.’ Still Veronica remained unblinking.